No extras needed to run government
Thursday, September 16, 2010
No extras needed in bill to keep government running
All 23 Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee
have signed a letter to Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI)
asking that any resolution to keep the government funded after
September 30 be "clean," meaning there should be no extra spending
or policy provisions tacked onto the bill.
It is not unusual for Congress to reach the end of a fiscal year
(always the end of September) and have spending bills that remain
unfinished. Typically, Congress will pass one or more
Continuing Resolutions (CR) so agencies and programs will continue
to operate after September 30 until the budget process is
finished. This year, none of the 12 annual spending bills
have been signed into law, so an interim measure is needed so there
is no lapse in funding.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Administration and
Congressional Leaders will try to lard up the CR with more spending
and policy changes, like a reported $250 million increase to
implement the new health care bill and $100 million for new staff
and programs for the Wall Street reform law.
The goal of a CR should be to keep the government running while
Congress finishes the budget process. A CR should not be used
as a catch-all bill for new programs, spending and pet projects to
help some before the election. We must pass a short-term CR
before the end of the month, and I hope members of both parties
will pass a clean version without bickering and needless political
posturing.
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